Melvin was left at the altar and his best friend, Larry, just lost his dad. Fed up with their dead-end lives, they head off to China hoping for a fresh start. Melvin, an elementary school teacher and would-be writer of grammar textbooks, has a deal with Big China Publishing. Perhaps this success will entice his former fiancé, Scarlet, to take him back. When he’s not hitting on any girl with a pulse, Larry merrily totes around the ashes of his recently deceased father as a way of ‘getting in some quality time.’ They both stubbornly cling to the past even though they’ve traveled so far to escape it.

China, however, puts them through the gauntlet of life lessons, and they eventually learn the art of letting go. Melvin meets a kindred soul, Lily, and Larry finds that he is, actually, able to forgive. But the story doesn’t end there. China has one more test for them that threatens much more than just their friendship.